Re: SSM Plebiscite
Reply #454 –
In Blaxland, 74% voted no.
In Melbourne Ports (my turf), 82% voted yes!
Exactly, there is a lot of rubbish spoken in the media, but reality is voting is mostly along economic and religious grounds as it does in a normal election. Was the voting return low in the Bankstown region?
If I recall the Bankstown region has one of Australia's highest percentages of residents who speak a language other than English at home. Something like 40% of residents are either speaking Arabic or Vietnamese at home as their first language.
Left wing moderates like Waleed Aly would have you believe that a dominant Arabic speaking community's voting demographic is the same as the any other, but the truth is far from that! Aly himself refused to declare his vote publicly, which almost certainly means it followed religious grounds as a "No" vote. I have no problem with that as it is his right which I defend, but I am not comfortable when he allows himself to be considered by many on the "Yes' side as one of their champions!
The Right Wing is full of Christian crusaders, like Andrew Bolt, they often believe themselves to be moderate! Their demographic is also likely to be heavily influenced by religion and wealth.
I read a report somewhere that claimed the more powerless a voter feels, usually due to economic issues, more more likely you were to vote "No"! That would also be an issue in Bankstown or similar regions. I'm sure aspects of the "No" vote campaign played to that very perspective.
Not sure why Calwell and Bruce had such high "no" votes in Vic(Above 50%), bit nothing like two or three divisions in NSW that were above 60% "No". I had expected some redneck voting in Qld, and I am presently surprised!
It seems NSW is the most divided state in Australia.